Industry Eyes Budget 2026 For Boost To India’s Digital Finance Ecosystem

New Delhi, Jan 27 (KNN) With the Union Budget 2026 set to be presented on February 1, industry stakeholders are closely tracking the government’s signals on priorities for India’s rapidly evolving digital economy, with fintech emerging as a key sector shaping how Indians transact, save and access financial services.
 
Experts credit the surge in digital payments to UPI’s low-cost, interoperable framework, rising smartphone usage, affordable internet and a supportive regulatory environment, which together have built trust, driven formalisation and enabled rapid scaling of the ecosystem.
 
Expectations from Budget 2026
 
Naren Agarwal, CEO, Wealth1, said targeted Budget measures such as easier access to growth capital, tax incentives, GST rationalisation and continued support for digital public infrastructure like UPI, Account Aggregator and DigiLocker could accelerate fintech growth. 
 
He added that greater policy support for AI, data analytics, cybersecurity and regulatory sandboxes would help fintechs scale responsibly, expand financial inclusion and strengthen India’s position as a global digital finance hub.
 
Sustainability and Payment Economics
 
Richika Dadheech, Founder and Managing Director, FiatPe, said the fintech sector is looking for policy continuity in Budget 2026 with a stronger emphasis on long-term sustainability. 
 
While zero MDR has boosted adoption, she noted that differentiated pricing for high-volume transactions could support ongoing investment in infrastructure, security and reliability without burdening small merchants, alongside stronger safeguards for cybersecurity and fraud prevention.
 
AI, Reliability and User Trust
 
Dadheech said technology, especially AI, is transforming fintech operations by enabling real-time fraud detection, system monitoring and efficiency at scale. 
 
However, she stressed that trust ultimately depends on reliable systems backed by strong human accountability, with the next phase of fintech growth driven by on-ground reliability and user confidence in support and grievance redressal mechanisms.
 
India Stack as a Global Benchmark
 
Rohith Reji, Co-founder and CEO, Neokred, said India Stack could evolve from a digital backbone into a global benchmark. 
 
For Budget 2026, he expects policies to expand embedded finance and tax incentives for fintech middleware, bridge the MSME credit gap via Account Aggregator adoption, provide clearer regulations with green fintech and AI sandboxes and simplified GST, and support financial literacy and cybersecurity to bring new users into the formal system confidently.
 
(KNN Bureau)